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Robbery of 2 men leads to 5 arrests

Facial recognition technology helps deputies determine the identify of a suspect who allegedly gave another name.

By JACOB H. FRIES
Published December 10, 2005

DUNEDIN - The first sign neighbors had that something was amiss were the two men in their underwear hiding behind a shed.

That began an investigation Wednesday night that led to the arrest of five people accused of robbing, beating and forcing the men to strip.

And one of the things that helped make the case, detectives said, was a deputy's use of facial recognition technology.

It was the 100th time the technology had helped deputies determine the identity of a suspect trying to impersonate someone else, Pinellas sheriff's spokesman Mac McMullen said Friday.

The initial 911 call came at 9:36 p.m. Wednesday, reporting the half-clothed men.

Deputies arrived in the area of Roanoke Street moments later and found the men trying to flag them down, McMullen said.

Marco Martinez-Garcia, 20, and Alejandro Vargas-Fuentes, 16, both of Clearwater, were then taken to Mease Dunedin Hospital with injuries sustained in a beating.

At the hospital, they told detectives what had happened.

First, two women came up to them on Alpine Road in Clearwater and asked for a ride, McMullen said. They agreed to drive the women home to 512 Roanoke St.

When they arrived, the women asked Martinez-Garcia and Vargas-Fuentes inside, McMullen said. The house was dark and the men entered a bedroom.

Someone grabbed one of them from behind and held a knife to his throat, he said. The other was beaten. Their attackers demanded money, but the men said they had none. They were then told to strip to their underwear and turn over their jewelry, which they did.

Martinez-Garcia and Vargas-Fuentes then ran from the home, through yards and over fences to hide behind the shed.

While questioning the men at the hospital, Detective Ed Crandall heard over his radio another call on Roanoke Street, this one a report of an assault. Crandall called the responding deputy and relayed the men's story on the chance that it was related.

Cpl. Jim Cooper arrived at 512 Roanoke St. to find five people inside, some of them about to get into a taxi, Crandall said. Cooper talked with one woman, who gave him a false name, but Cooper took a photo of her and entered it into the computer system.

The facial recognition technology indicated a match. The woman was 18-year-old Latia S. Gordon, who had outstanding warrants for her arrest.

Cooper took her into custody and a second woman, Jami L. Livingston, 23, began to talk about how the two men had been robbed inside the home, McMullen said.

Livingston was then arrested as was her sister, Jessica L. Livingston, 18; Haven B. Gray, 32; and Brayvus L. Cunningham, 22. All of them, including Gordon, were charged with robbery. They remained in Pinellas County Jail on Friday.

Pinellas County sheriff's deputies first got facial recognition technology in their cruisers in June 2004. Now, with a digital camera and a laptop, they can take a photo of a suspect and use it to search mug shots of suspects with similar facial features. The same technology is used when a person is booked into the county jail.

As for Wednesday's case, it made the difference, Crandall said. If not for the quick identification of Gordon, Cooper might have had to let all five of the suspects leave in the taxi because, until that point, he had no right to arrest any of them, the detective said.

"It would have been next to impossible to track them down after that," he said.

[Last modified December 10, 2005, 00:51:18]